To live again
by ilrahcbow
Summary: When Prussia dissolved, everyone assumed he had reached the end of his existence. No one ever considered that once a country dies, they become a guardian, and in Prussia's case, Jack Frost.


Prussia sank back into chair, discarding the papers on the table before him. The man let out a deep sigh and passed a hand to his head. At the sound of distant laughter, he glanced up. Through the window on the other side of the room-the only source of light in the dark, insufficiently lit hall-he could see Germany and Italy playing together in the snow. Prussia smiled weakly and gathered the papers on his desk. Seeing his brother so happy made him even more determined to see this through. For, the issue had arisen of late that there could only be one representation of Germany and whether it be Prussia or Germany was for them to decide. Prussia took the decision as the eldest, without consultation from Germany, that he would be the one to disappear. The more he thought about it, the happier he was to carry it out. His brother had so much more to live for: he was stronger, he was more respected and most of all, he had such a strong friendship with Italy the man couldn't bring himself to break. In order for these papers to be signed, it required the blood of the person in question. He took a deep breath and held out his wrist before slashing across it with his quill. It took a moment before the blood formed; Prussia wiped the tip of the quill along the cut and signed the first paper. The laughter from outside spurred him on to sign the rest of the sheets. His hand trembled upon lifting the pen from the final page, the blood beginning to blot through the paper. He gritted his teeth, glancing back to the pair outside, and raised his hand. The deed was done. The man collected the papers and stood up. Two days-that was what the papers said. That was how long he had left. The man suddenly felt torn. Did he or did he not tell Germany? He would find out sooner or later so would it really make a difference? For now, Prussia couldn't find it in himself to say anything and instead put on a heavy coat and left the house, the papers tucked under his arms.

The man returned a couple of hours later, only to find Germany pacing restlessly up and down the hall.  
"W-west?" he faltered in surprise. The man whipped round, his eyes clouded with tears. "What ha-"  
"How could you do that!" he cried, wrapping himself tightly around the other.  
"Huh? I don't understand."  
"The papers, East! How could you sign them!" Prussia writhed his way out of Germany's embrace.  
"How do you know about that?" he asked defensively.  
"Everyone does! A thing like this isn't exactly going to go unnoticed!" The man let out a faltered sob and clapped both hands over his face, dropping to his knees. "Why! Why did you do it...you're going to d-die..." Prussia's placid face remained unchanged.  
"I had to, West. You deserve to live more than I do." The man craned his neck to face the other and struggled to his feet.  
"How! Everything I've ever done is because of you! You took me in! You made me who I am! I can't lose you, bruder!" he shouted.  
"Yes you can." Prussia returned coldly. "I know you better than anyone in this world and I have every belief you can survive without me. Besides, you have Italy to care for you-you aren't alone, West." he smiled weakly. Germany let out a broken sigh, tears still streaming down his face.  
"I-I don't believe you." he whispered through gritted teeth, doubling over back on the floor. Prussia was unable to say anything else. The two remained still as silence slowly descended, swallowing both of them in the darkness of the insufficiently lit hall, the window behind them casting them in a rectangle of ice blue light.

The next morning Prussia awoke with a pounding headache. His whole body felt weaker and stiffer. Upon reaching the foot of the stairs, the man found Germany. He had watched him come down and his face grew suddenly pale.  
"Its starting...isn't it?" Prussia only nodded, save he would start getting emotional if he opened his mouth. The rest of the day, the man could feel himself getting weaker and weaker, as if he were disintegrating, cell by cell.  
By the next morning, he knew his time was almost up. Today was the day. Upon passing Germany's room, he found the man hunched over on the side of his bed, crying. His figure was silhouetted by the cold light that poured in from the window. Prussia stopped and knocked gently on the door. The man raised his head and turned over his shoulder.  
"You OK?" he asked softly.  
"What do you think!" he returned, burying his head in his hands. Prussia looked to the floor and frowned before turning to look out of the window. It was snowing. A small smile played on his sickly pale face.  
"West." he began, forcing his throat to speak louder than was comfortable. The man turned round once more. "Since its snowing again, why don't we go outside for a while? We can play around for a bit...you know, like we did when we were kids."  
"B-but you're not well enough."  
"I'll be the judge of that." he grinned toothily.  
"Well, I see you haven't lost your sense of humour." Germany chuckled, raising to his feet. "Are you sure you're up to it?" he asked, resting a hand on the other's shoulder.  
"Of course I am." he lied.

Using his brother's shoulder as a support, Prussia walked with Germany down the snow capped slope, down to the old lake, which was frozen over by a thick sheet of untouched ice.  
"This brings back memories." Germany smiled, approaching the bank. "We always used to skate here whenever it snowed and I used to hold your hand because I was so small and didn't know how skate properly." He cast a glance down to Prussia who forced a smile back.  
"It looks like you're going to be holding my hand this time, little brother."  
Germany led Prussia tentatively onto the ice. Both giggled upon almost falling over and began to smile as they started to glide gracefully over the frozen lake, Prussia still leaning on Germany for support. A few laps of the pond and the man could tell his time was rapidly running out. A sudden chill knocked him off balance and the man fell to the floor, creating splits in the ice below him.  
"East!" Germany cried, making to turn back. The splits in the ice quickly zigzagged over to him.  
"No! Don't move!" Prussia called back, throatily. "The ice is going to split!"  
"I have to help you!" the other returned, edging his way back along to Prussia. The man shook his head, his breath laboured.  
"The...ice! I-its going to...s-split! West, stay where you are!" Germany froze and glanced down to his feet. Sure enough, the ice was cracking piece by piece under his foot.  
"East!"  
"Germany! Y-you have to...b-believe in me, O-ok?"  
"I believe you, East."  
"On the count of three I'm going to save you...one...t-two...three!" The man used the last burst of energy left inside him to spring forward and push Germany away, sending him skidding towards the edge of the lake. The man fell face forward, down onto the ice and lay still as the ice cracked further beneath him. Germany's voice cried out all around him, warping and echoing from ear to ear. The sound began to fade as Prussia felt himself slipping slowly into the freezing water below, his whole body tingling with the rush of cold filling his lungs. His breath shortened and darkness washed over him as he sunk further down into the depths of the lake.

 **End of Chapter 1**

 **And there you have it. The first installment of what could be an elongated series-if enough there is enough request for it! Chapter 2 resumes with Prussia waking to find no memory of who he was or what he's meant to do. Until he meets a handful of people in a similar situation to him, known as 'Guardians'. So stay tuned!**


End file.
